Monday 24 March 2014

Bloodstock Festival Preview - Bloodshot Dawn and Morgue Orgy!

Bloodstock is pretty much undisputedly the leading metal festival in the UK, and it's pretty safe to say that it has now held that position for a few years. Growing year on year without resorting to filling the lineup with pop in the way Download have done.




This year the lineup is strong across the board, the headliners of Down, Emperor and Megadeth are going to kick ass, and bands like Amon Amarth, Dimmu Borgir and Obituary never fail to bring the house down, but lower down the bill are some real hidden gems. Bloodstock has fantastic support for the underground, both global and within the UK. Last year I saw Scarab, who came all the way over from Egypt to play their crushing brand of death metal, and they rank as probably one of the best bands I've ever seen without having known who they were beforehand. Hopefully you'll find something similar here with these two fantastic, crushing British acts.

Bloodshot Dawn have deservedly been afforded a main stage slot for this year, as things stand it looks like they'll be opening the main stage on the Friday, but more bands are yet to be confirmed so that may change. Either way, the main stage is exactly what Bloodshot Dawn deserve. I've been a fan of them for a few years now, since they handed me a copy of their Slaves To The Lie EP in a McDonalds in Camden in London. They were supporting Cerebral Bore that night at the Purple Turtle and they absolutely fucking slayed. I listened to the EP when I got home and I've been a fan ever since. This is real, chunky, bang your head off extreme metal. Bloodshot Dawn are one of the very best in upcoming British metal and if you're going to be at Bloodstock, absolutely check them out on the main stage on the Friday. If you're not going, check them out right here : http://bloodshotdawn.bandcamp.com/album/bloodshot-dawn


Morgue Orgy are another lot that are finally getting the recognition they deserve, even getting a mention on Pointless. I saw this lot at Beermageddon 2013, and they gave festival goers free CD's for elbow dropping one of their earlier releases. Naturally I obliged and the 4 hour journey home became a much more pleasant experience. Not their first time at Bloodstock, having played in 2010, they will be tearing up the Sophie Lancaster Stage on the Saturday in 2014, bringing their brand of British melodic death metal to Catton Hall. The future is bright for Morgue Orgy, who are certainly gathering momentum across the UK. Check them out online here, and download their album "The Last Man On Earth" for free!

As ever with these bands, if you find something you like please do consider buying CD's, merch and all the rest. More importantly, show up and support your local scene!

Big Metal Bastard will be back with more previews, album and EP reviews, gig reviews and all sorts of other stuff coming up.

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If you want me to feature your band, give me a shout on twitter or by firing an email off to bigmetalbastard@outlook.com and I'll give your stuff a listen!

I'M BACK!

Hey guys and girls,

I know I've been away from this blog for quite a while now, having not done anything new for over a year for unfortunate reasons, but now I'm back and ready to get back to digging out the very best in underground and overground metal from all over the world.

Bands that have messaged me that I haven't managed to get back to yet, I will do, fear not! any bands that have stuff that they'd like me to have a look at and maybe write up, get in touch!

Fresh stuff coming soon.

@bigmetalbastard on Twitter, tweet me up!